


Cadet Strife's Adventures in the Big City

by Munchkin47



Series: Cadet Strife's Adventures in the Big City [1]
Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: M/M, Soul Bond, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:42:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23769451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Munchkin47/pseuds/Munchkin47
Relationships: Sephiroth/Cloud Strife
Series: Cadet Strife's Adventures in the Big City [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1800790
Comments: 104
Kudos: 515





	1. Chapter 1

Today was probably the most mind-bendingly, soul-crushingly insanely whacked-out day. 

And it still wasn’t over. Cloud pressed his forehead against his folded hands wrapped around the handle of a mop. ‘What the ever loving _fuck_!’ he screamed out at the top of his lungs in to the empty training hall, and he gets beaned in the back of the head for his efforts.

A wet sponge tumbled down his back and plopped onto the ground. ‘Shut the fuck up already, Strife.’ Kunsel barks from behind him, but Cloud can hear a smile in his voice. Cloud turns to look at the filthy, nearly black sponge on the ground.

‘Kunsel, I will punch you and stuff this dirty sponge into your mouth,’ Cloud threatened, but Kunsel knows he doesn’t mean it. For one, he’s way too tired, and secondly, he can’t even bring himself to touch that horrible sponge, even though he’s filthy beyond belief.

He sniffs himself. He smells like bleach, floor detergent and dried manly sweat. A disgusting combo if there ever was one. 

It had been the first day of starting his cadetship for the SOLDIER program. Brutal could barely describe the training that he and his fellow cadets had been put through. It was like he had been put through a washing machine, set on boiling hot, and extra-spin, then wrung out until he was exhausted and the fatigue was etched deep into his bones. His muscles screamed every single time he even fucking breathed, and his brain did not seem to retain any semblance of control over his limbs.

They had started bright and early at five in the morning, made to run twenty laps on the field, then were subjected to a weight-training session that was best described as excruciating. Drill Sargeant Poole had barked at them throughout the entire run, but he was nothing compared to Drill Sargeant Vecca, whose voice and face resembled a cross between a yip-yip dog’s and a Doberman’s. His voice was both high-pitched and terrifying, and he looked like he could pick them up with his finger and thumb and crush them into dust.

After a meagre breakfast of bread and soup, they were thrown into a series of fast-paced lessons on weapons training and materia-wielding. Then they were made to spar each other with wooden swords, again and again and again until there was one man left standing. That cadet was the only one who managed to escape the punishment of running around the field for five laps.

Cloud had not been the winning cadet, unfortunately. He had been knocked down in the first quarter of spars, poked at and slapped around by wooden swords until he basically dropped to the ground crying uncle. That had plainly sucked, because the first ten cadets to go down were subjected to another five laps. And unfortunately, he had been lucky number ten.

He thought he would vomit by the end of the ten laps. By the time they were ordered to go for lunch, he did. Noisily and dramatically into the toilet bowl. There were weird chunks in there.

And all that had taken place before noon.

Four cadets had quit on the spot, but Cloud was not one of them. He had worked too hard to qualify for the SOLDIER program, and he was no quitter. He had failed the tests and passed on his third try, and nothing was going to stop him from becoming a Shinra SOLDIER. He had dreamed about this since he was a kid living in a bumfuck town called Nibelheim. It had been four years since he had left that place, and he was never going back.

That evening, he had been randomly selected to clean the training rooms alongside his fellow cadets, Kunsel and Luxiere. Kunsel bitched a lot, but Lux was quiet. Cloud didn’t quite mind as he ran a mop across the seemingly endless floors of the training rooms. By now, his mind was on the verge of shutting down, and every muscle in his body seemed to be trembling. Only a thin thread of his willpower made him hold on.

When they were finally done, he breathed a sigh of relief and they dragged their bone-weary asses to the communal showers. The hot gush of water that streamed over his head and achy muscles felt so good he actually moaned quietly. When the water turned off, he grabbed the thin, army-issue towel and wiped down, and wrapped it around his waist.

He stood in front of his locker, his mind tuning out the low-level chatter of his fellow cadets, when suddenly there was a quick searing pain on the inside of his right wrist, and he winced, dropped the bottle of shampoo he had been holding. It clattered to the floor, and the pain was gone.

He looked at his wrist. On his once unblemished skin, there was now a single letter that was tattooed in a shade of jade-green. Even in his fugue state, he recognized it for what it was immediately. Why now? Why here? The thrill and excitement and apprehension all at once hit him like a slap to the face and a fist to the balls.

‘What’s wrong- HEY! Strife, looks like you got your soul mark!’ Kunsel jabbered excitedly. He pulled Cloud’s wrist to him, and examined it. ‘Wow. A single letter. A soul mate with a single name. S? Cool!’

Luxiere looked over as well. ‘That’s a pretty shade of green. Nice eyes, then.’

Cloud ran his finger over his newly-appeared soul mark. No one knew when these would turn up, but a theory was when you were on the cusp of meeting your soul mate. The letters that appeared was a hint – the initials of their soul mate, and the color of the letters reflecting the color of their eyes. He shivered slightly, suddenly excited despite his fatigue. Who was this mysterious person? A single letter? With eyes like that?

He imagined a beautiful woman named Seraphine, with eyes of warm jade, ivory skin and hair as dark as the night. Sexy and gorgeous and alluring, an older woman, perhaps?!? Man, that was fucking hot just thinking about it. A voice that was like honeyed bells that rang-

‘S?’ Kunsel said. ‘Sarah? Serenity? Sage? Shit, fuck, I just thought of one. Or,’ Kunsel guffawed. ‘What if it’s General Se-’

There was a rustle and an indecipherable noise behind their row of lockers, and then a set of footsteps that rounded the corner, making straight for them. Then the owner of those quickened footsteps came to a complete stop in front of the three cadets.

The man that stood there practically towered over them. He was wearing nothing but his black leather pants, drops of water still glistening on his pale skin, on those taut, ridiculous muscles. That legendarily insane long silver hair hung down his back, on the verge of drying completely. That face, impassive and distance despite the intensity of those eyes staring straight at them.

‘General Sephiroth,’ Lux squeaked, and it genuinely sounded mouse than human. Cloud wanted to laugh, but his survival instincts kicked in quick enough for him to snap his body into a stiff salute, standing at attention. Next to him, he could feel Lux and Kunsel do the same.

‘Sir!’ he said. And his towel fell to the floor.

Fuck. FUUUUUCK.

But he stood still, ignoring the way Sephiroth stared at him, his gaze scanning him from the top of his head to the bottom of his toes before snapping up again. Behind the general, two men stepped forward, in various states of undress. General Hewley was just pulling a shirt on, while General Rhapsodos was in nothing but a pair of crimson briefs.

Still better than him, who was currently standing butt-naked while he saluted his superiors.

General Rhapsodos merely laughed, slapping his thighs. ‘Shiva’s frozen tits, please don’t tell me this little blond twink is your soul mate. He’s cute, if you can look past the chocobo’s ass on his head. I’m going to shit myself laughing.’

What?

General Hewley slapped the red-head on the back. ‘Shut up, Gen.’

Sephiroth kept staring, and then suddenly Cloud realized what he was staring at. Cloud’s hand was still in its salute, stiff against his forehead. Sephiroth was looking at his wrist.

No. Noooooo. Please don’t let it be so.

‘This I got to see,’ General Rhapsodos said, walking up to Cloud, while eyeing his nudity and dismissing it almost out of hand. ‘He’s eager, I’ll tell you that.’ With a gentle yank, he pulled up Cloud’s wrist, turned it. The laughter that bubbled out of Rhapsodos was loud, inappropriate, and utterly tickled. ‘Fuck, it’s him, Sephiroth!’ he choked out through labored breaths.

Every part of Cloud, excluding his dick, stiffened immediately in apprehension.

After a moment of hesitation, Sephiroth lifted his hand, and turned his wrist around. On it, were two letters, tattooed in light-blue ink. CS.

Cloud’s gaze flew to the general’s eyes. Shades of jade-green. The same as the one on his wrist.

Fuck. Fuck him with a stick. The general had the corresponding soul mark? They were fucking soul mates? Was the universe fucking with him?

He wanted to cry.

He wanted to jump off the rooftop of Shinra Tower.

‘Who are you, kid?’ Rhapsodos managed to ask.

‘Cadet Cloud Strife,’ Cloud answered robotically. ‘Today is my first day with the SOLDIER program.’

‘Aw, a cadet!’ Rhapsodos said cheerily. Then laughed uncontrollably. Cloud found that absolutely insulting. ‘A fucking cadet! This is gold, Sephiroth. A cadet! Can you imagine how terribly inappropriate this is going to be?!? I mean, I can already imagine you bending him over your desk-’

‘Genesis,’ Sephiroth said warningly.

‘-and insisting that he calls you sir-’

‘Genesis,’ Sephiroth said again, but this time with sharp bite in his tone.

‘I’ll save that image for the spank bank, then,’ Genesis said sultrily. ‘But he’s a cute one, Sephiroth! I like him!’ Then he turned back to Cloud. ‘You found each other! Congratulations! You’ve joined the ranks of adulthood now.’ Rhapsodos waved his own wrist at Cloud, and he briefly caught the letters AH in a shade of dark brown.

Sephiroth closed his eyes, took a deep breath. Then he let it out, slowly. ‘Cadet Strife,’ he said. ‘Cadet.’ The way he lingered on that made Cloud think that the general was having trouble processing this reality, or was in sheer disbelief that his soul mate was a _cadet._

Cloud waited. But nothing else came.

‘Sir,’ he stammered dumbly. Then felt like it required a follow-up. But he had nothing. Surely he couldn’t say, ‘It’s nice to meet you, sir!’?? It seemed terribly inappropriate under the circumstances. ‘Fuck,’ he said instead, and he was pretty sure that it was the wrong thing to say as soon as the word left his mouth. 

This man had been the object of his hero-worship even when he was a dumb piece of shit teenager back in Nibelheim. The Silver General of Midgar was his _soul mate_? It made no fucking sense.

None of this made sense. Here he was, standing naked in front of his superiors and his friends, and no one had given him leave to at least pull on his towel? And he had just discovered his soul mate, who was now looking at him like he was a squashed roach under his boot. Mild distaste and shock all rolled into one.

Lovely.


	2. Chapter 2

The news spread like wildfire across the whole of the SOLDIER program. _Of course_ it did. He wouldn’t have expected anything else to happen with his apparently shitty run of luck so far.

He wondered if it was Kunsel or Luxiere, or Genesis Rhapsodos who had done it. Maybe they had all done it. No one could keep a lid on juicy information like this when gossip was a tradeable good here. Heck, he himself would have passed on the information if he had found out the great, esteemed General Sephiroth – Epitome of Grace, Strength and Dignity, beloved poster boy of Shinra Corp. – had found himself a brand spanking new soul mate in form of a lowly cadet who couldn’t even finish a whole rep of burpees without his lungs collapsing. News like that was funny, because you can then speculate on how terribly embarrassing and awkward it was for the two hapless individuals.

Except that one of them was him, and this was his life, and it was not funny.

‘It’s fucking hilarious!’ Drill Sargeant Vecca chortled in his annoyingly high-pitched voice as he slapped Cloud on the back. ‘Do a proper sit-up, you dumbass, or you’re going to start the entire rep again!’ he barked, and then pushed down on his back so hard that Cloud thought that Vecca broke his spine. ‘Does he know that you’re the bottom of the trash heap, cadet? Mind you, you’re not the worst so far. Only by a hair though.’

Glad to hear it, Cloud thought, gritting his teeth as he pulled into another crunch. This was it. He was going to die today. Cause of death: excessive crunches. Cloud was one of the ten bottom cadets who had been given this brutal gift for coming in dead last during the evening run.

‘So have you gone on any dates yet with the man?’ Vecca asked conversationally, and Cloud wanted to head butt him the next time he sat up. If he could. He didn’t know if his spine was still functioning; his lungs certainly weren’t.

‘No, sir.’ That single word was huffed, and on a ridiculously short breath.

‘Yeah, I wouldn’t want to either, not if I were a snotty-assed little runt like you,’ Vecca said, and his words were comically brutal and sympathetic at the same time. ‘Better luck with your soul mate next time, kid. But for this life, you’re stuck.’

‘Thank you, sir,’ Cloud grunted, and as soon as the last of the crunches were done and Vecca finally stopped sitting on him, he rolled onto his side and started wheezing. The day was finally over, and he has nothing left inside. He could technically simply lay down here and sleep. It’s not like he won’t be back tomorrow anyway.

He turned and stretched his poor achy muscles, and ignored the shadow that fell over him.

Even if Lux and Kunsel and Genesis hadn’t said anything about Cloud and Sephiroth’s soul marks to anyone else, they would have found out anyway. How could they not, when Sephiroth was in full stalker mode almost every evening since then?

‘Don’t you have work to do?’ Cloud said snappishly. ‘Missions to run, people to kill?’ He rolled his right ankle gingerly. It ached like a bitch. Yep. Probably broken after all the abuse it has taken.

‘My offer for extra tutoring lessons still holds,’ Sephiroth said expressionlessly, then bent down on one knee. He gently put his oversized knife down on the ground, and put cold fingers on the exposed flesh above Cloud’s ankle.

‘Yeah, take the extra lessons, noob! You suck!’ Genesis heckled him from his position at the observational platform, where he had spied Sephiroth and his annoying red-headed sidekick sitting there since an hour earlier. Didn’t they have anything better to do than to watch cadets get killed to within an inch of their lives with the rigorous training that came with the SOLDIER program?

‘No, thank you,’ Cloud said firmly, pulling his leg out of Sephiroth’s grasp. But Sephiroth tightens his grip instead, and begins massaging his ankle. ‘You’ve probably strained the muscles from overuse,’ Sephiroth said, by way of explanation, but it certainly doesn’t fucking explain why he’s crouched on the ground massaging a lowly cadet’s leg.

This is why. _This_ behavior is why the information of their corresponding soul marks was not a secret. Because Sephiroth would seek him out at vastly inappropriate times and then actually deigned to speak to him. Even cadets who lived under a rock would question why Sephiroth was harassing a certain blond cadet in the hallways when they passed.

And if they had functioning eyes and ears, who could ignore the sight of the Silver General lifting a gloved hand to a cadet’s cheek, then promptly proceeded _not_ to skewer him with that stupid oversized knife or pummel him into ash, or castigate him for his incompetence in a stern tone that sent shivers of terror up the spine? 

Instead, Sephiroth asked, in his ridiculously buttery sex-god voice, how training was going for Cloud, and if he’d like to have dinner that evening. And clearly within earshot of everybody in the hall and their grandma, because Sephiroth didn’t know understand the meaning of discretion.

Cloud watched Sephiroth massage his ankle, acutely aware of all the gazes boring into his back as they watched this situation unfold in front of their eyes. Up on the platform, Genesis is making kissy noises, and then started miming giving a blowjob, hollowing out his cheeks as he stroked an imaginary dick.

Cloud huffs out an angry breath, and averted his eyes. No matter how angry he is, he can’t swear at a superior officer. As much as he’d like to. And as much as Genesis deserved it. He pulled out of Sephiroth’s grip again. ‘I need to go. Got to mop up the hall.’

‘Join me for dinner after?’ Sephiroth lifted an eyebrow.

‘No, sir,’ Cloud said patiently, as if he was trying to explain things to a particularly dull-witted child. ‘No dinner. I’m beat. As soon as I’m done here, I’m going to hit the hay.’

He scooted back, then got up on unsteady feet. He stumbled along like a maimed animal to get the mop bucket and mop. When he got back to the hall, the show was over. Everyone cleared out except for the ten cadets who had come in last at the evening run.

Their audience of one sat up on the platform, tapping away at his PHS. Another cadet inched closer to Cloud. ‘Gods, is it intimidating or what to have the general as your soul mate?’

It wasn’t fucking intimidating, it was irritating as hell. But Cloud wasn’t going to say different. The cadet wasn’t wrong. It was intimidating in the beginning, for the first week after their initial encounter at least. The whispers of the people around them, the way Sephiroth walked up to him and spoke to him like he was someone important.

Then he realized that it didn’t matter, because he had no interest in pursuing any of this soul mark business. Not while Sephiroth was his superior. Uh-uh. No way in hell. He had gotten into the SOLDIER program on his own merit. Yes, he had barely gotten in, and that was by the skin of his teeth, but it was his own achievement nonetheless. Being known as the general’s soul mate was more trouble than it was worth, because it immediately cast a whole host of doubts on his already questionable abilities.

Cloud knew he sucked. But he would suck on his own terms, and getting ahead by sucking Sephiroth’s dick was out of the question.

When he became a SOLDIER First Class, then he could turn his thoughts to pursuing this weird shit with the general or whatever. Not before. Not while Sephiroth had the power to influence his climb up the career ladder.

When Sephiroth had offered extra tutoring, i.e. private lessons with the lone man who stood on top of the pyramid of greatness in SOLDIER, Cloud had been tempted to take it. He was so far behind his fellow cadets. He was almost always in the bottom ten, whether it was PT, or sparring, or materia-wielding. He was OK with sword work, but nowhere near the top.

But he knew there were only two reasons why Sephiroth had offered his help – firstly because he had been shocked by Cloud’s dismal performance so far. He probably found it hard to believe someone who was his soul mate could suck so badly without flaming out of the program, and secondly, it was precisely because Cloud was his soul mate that he offered help. If he was any regular old stupid cadet, Sephiroth wouldn’t even have given him a second glance or any time of the day. Cloud might be able to live with the rampant gossip, but damned if anyone accused him of getting better because of the general’s blatant favoritism. He won’t let a fucking tatt on his wrist change anything.

He pushed the mop across his section in the enormous training hall. His back hurt. His legs were jelly. He wanted to shower it all off and drop into bed. He wanted to suck less so he didn’t end up having to clean the damned gym after a long day.

But he finished the mopping and hit the showers. The stingy trickle of hot water became cold after five minutes, so Cloud reluctantly hopped out and dragged his ass over to the lockers.

Sephiroth was waiting on the bench.

Cloud didn’t even bother saluting him anymore, especially when they were alone. If Sephiroth wanted to cross the line, Cloud could too. He was close to snarling, ‘What do you want?’ when he realized that he was simply too tired.

But Sephiroth wasn’t looking at him. He was staring at the single letter etched on Cloud’s wrist. It looked a little like a tattoo of a green snake. It was strange how his life, his future, was now encapsulated in that single letter. It was the same for Sephiroth, whose two letters in blue was hidden underneath his leather bracer. He knew Sephiroth had his doubts, just like Cloud did. Except the difference was that Sephiroth was trying to investigate further, while Cloud was not interested in doing so. It was one thing to be harassed by Sephiroth during regular training, but quite another to be seen with him, having dinner.

There was no relationship if he pretended there wasn’t one. And somehow it was an easier illusion to buy into, rather than the delusional horseshit about soul mates. Cloud snorted. He was a modern man, sophisticated and mature, not the country farm boy who had stars in his eyes. Soul marks didn’t mean jack shit to him. He could ignore it if he had to.

And besides, he always preferred women anyway. Pretty ladies who smelled good and had soft bouncy bosoms-

Sephiroth reached out to touch Cloud’s soul mark with his gloved hand. That normally smooth brow was knit together in concentration and bafflement, as he himself could not believe that his name had turned up on the wrist of a cadet.

Cloud retracted his wrist and turned his back on Sephiroth, his heart pounding nervously. He pulled on a loose shirt and pants, and ran a hand through his wet hair. ‘Um. Anyways. Good night. Sir.’

‘Wait.’

Cloud turned to meet his gaze. Those goddamned green eyes got him every time. Cloud never would have thought that he would ever meet those eyes from such a tiny distance away. He wondered how much of those green eyes were natural, or drenched in mako.

‘We need to talk.’

Cloud felt the familiar surge of frustration. What was there to talk about? He was in over his head on this soul mark business, and he was done with it. He was sick to death of all the cadets and SOLDIERS who looked at him and saw only the words ‘Sephiroth’s Soul Mate’ branded across his forehead, the relentless talk about how they haven’t gotten together or how glued at the hip they seemed or how Sephiroth was going to help him or how terrible he was doing at regular PT but it didn’t matter because Sephiroth would be there to back him up. ‘No,’ he answered brusquely. ‘If you want to talk about this soul mark business, then you can fuck right off. You have no business with me otherwise.’

Sephiroth’s eyes flashed with anger, and Cloud instinctively knew that he had taken it a step too far. And it was like watching a cobra uncoil itself. You knew you were gonna get bit, and you were too scared to do anything about it.

Sephiroth drew himself up to his full height, substantially dwarfing Cloud’s smaller stature. The way his gaze narrowed and pinned Cloud mercilessly to the floor with supreme displeasure indicated to Cloud that Sephiroth was not used to being sworn at, or told no. He raised his gloved hand, and pressed them against Cloud’s neck and windpipe, pushing hard enough that he ended up smashing him against the metal lockers with an almighty bang.

Stunned by this sudden act of violence, Cloud’s self-preservation instincts kicked in to defend himself. He may have been the runt of the litter of the SOLDIER program, but it didn’t mean he wasn’t a scrappy little fighter. He launched out with flying fists and kicks, futile as they were, because Sephiroth had him effectively pinned at a safe distance with his arm outstretched.

‘Let me go,’ Cloud grunted, and managed to land a half-decent kick at Sephiroth’s hip.

Sephiroth let him go.

‘You fucking psychopath,’ Cloud barked when he managed to get a breath in. ‘Did your mother never teach you manners, you bastard? You don’t grab people and choke the shit out of them just because you don’t like what they said.’ He knew he was digging a deeper hole of his grave, but he was _pissed_.

To his surprise, Sephiroth laughed. It was a deep, rich laugh born of mirth, but with a dangerous edge to it that suggested that he wasn’t that humored. ‘No one has ever had the balls to tell me no. I suppose it’s a strange irony that my destined soul mate’s the only one who’s dared so far.’

Cloud massaged his throat, eyeing Sephiroth with some trepidation.

‘I suppose I understand your frustration,’ Sephiroth continued. ‘After all, I’ve been experiencing the same, which is why I believe we need to sit down and talk about this, instead of dancing around each other.’

Experiencing the same _what_? He wasn’t sure if they were ever on the same page, let alone the same fucking planet. ‘What are you even talking about?’

Sephiroth pointed to Cloud, then himself, and then made a circle with his finger. ‘This.’

‘ _What_?’ Cloud could not conceal his impatience.

‘This,’ Sephiroth repeated patiently, and then closed the distance between them again. But even as Cloud’s balled fists came up in a defensive stance, Sephiroth had crushed them as his hand had snaked around his waist and pressed him close until their chests were flushed together. His free hand plunged into the back of Cloud’s wet hair and yanked him upwards, until their lips met.

The slide of soft lips against each other, the clumsy smash of their teeth clashing together – every little unfamiliar action and response served only to heighten his awareness of the strange electricity that was now building between them. Sephiroth’s tongue was invading his mouth, licking away at him – probing with curiosity, exploring with lust, and dominating with aggression.

Cloud could smell the man when they were pressed up against each other like that. Sephiroth smelled good – leather, vanilla, and a soft masculine musk that came from expensive cologne. Cloud’s hands alighted on the man’s narrow hips, and brought them close to his own.

When they were close like that, Cloud’s brain stopped working, because all he wondered was how well they fit together.

Breathless, pupils blown and dilated, Sephiroth pulled away first.

Cloud blinked.

‘This,’ Sephiroth said again, for the third time. He was referring to the tension between them – it was thick, it was awkward, and it was undeniably sexual. Something that Cloud had been ignoring since the day they met.

‘I got it,’ Cloud barked. His mind was clearing. The man had a point, although Cloud was loath to concede it. So instead of doing what he really wanted to do – which was to maul his superior officer like an animal and kiss him senseless and then possibly rummage under that leather coat and pants to pull out his dick so Cloud could fall to his knees to worship it – he pushed his hair back and shook all it off. ‘All right, that’s enough of that. Good night.’

‘What?’ Sephiroth’s expression could only best be described as stunned.

‘Oh, right. Sorry. Good night, _sir_.’ Then Cloud walked away as fast as his maimed legs could carry him before Sephiroth decided to hulk-smash him against the lockers again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be a one-shot, but clearly it didn't pan out that way. So sadly, there's going to be more. A lot more of this weird garbage where I just want Sephiroth and Cloud to be happy.


	3. Chapter 3

He spent the following week ducking the general.

The task itself wasn’t hard, per se – Sephiroth was head and shoulders taller than almost all of the people around him. And then there was that hair. Silver and long, so smooth and shiny it was like he was a walking shampoo commercial. Shinra Tower was mostly grey chrome and steel and weird blue lights, and the uniforms were a deep navy blue, but that shiny head of hair was a unique shade on the color spectrum. His presence itself inspired some sort of strange frenzy among the people around him, so the tension was definitely in the air if they were in the same room together. Cloud would be able to spot him from a mile away, even if he was blindfolded and walking backwards.

But the moment he did, that was his cue to get away. He would usually make a cheap excuse of forgetting a notebook in the classroom, or his water bottle in the training hall. But mostly, he used the cheapest one of all – the only where people not only didn’t question him about, but quickly ushered him away for fear that he might actually poop his pants. He was always running off to ‘take a dump’ that it was a complete surprise to him that his fellow cadets hadn’t yet commented about his feigned and imaginary IBS. 

And he did it so often that he was fairly certain that the general was actually still actively stalking him. He would pop up at the mess hall during lunch (‘whoops, gotta go take a dump, the mystery meat isn’t agreeing with me’), in the hallways (‘whoops, there’s the washroom, ah, gotta go before I shit myself’), and sometimes in the cadet dormitories (‘whoops, need to poop now k bye!’) where he was certain Sephiroth did not have any business being there.

There were plenty of times where he couldn’t avoid Sephiroth’s presence, but during those occasions he was also protected by the nature of the encounter. During training, he was too busy being yelled at by the drill sergeants and struggling to complete his reps to even consider paying attention to the man standing on the observation platform. During lectures, where Sephiroth would sit in the corner of the room, arms crossed, Masamune leaning against his chair, his face betraying absolutely no expression whatsoever. It was supposedly part of his job, to sit in occasionally on lectures and training so he could spot rising talent, but Cloud didn’t believe that for a second. But still, it didn’t stop from putting his head down, nose to paper as he frantically jotted down notes. And the moment the session was over, he practically vaulted over desks to run out of the door (‘sorry, gotta hit the porcelain throne!’).

It wasn’t as if he disliked the man. On the contrary. After their last encounter, Cloud was afraid that Sephiroth would try to corner him so they could reenact the Locker Room Smash and Pash, Take Two. And he was afraid that if tempted too badly, he might just go ahead and drop his underwear and say to Sephiroth, ‘Come get this hot piece of ass, you sexy bastard’, complete with a salacious butt wiggle.

He totally got that Sephiroth wanted to talk. But what was there to talk about, really? They had established that unfortunately, they were each other’s soul mates. So unless Cloud was ready to get married at the tender age of 19, there was absolutely nothing to discuss. And Cloud was nowhere near ready, and not at all interested. At his age, he was already one of the older cadets in the program. And not only did his age work against him, it was apparent that his body did too.

Some days he was in sheer disbelief about how much he sucked. He couldn’t keep up with 90% of the cadets, and he was literally at the bottom of the pile. Their first round of exams was coming up in a month, and Cloud was afraid that it was going to be a complete train wreck. He still couldn’t do the runs in the morning without needing to throw up after, and his sword play training showed him exactly how much of a pincushion he was. His materia-wielding was abysmal at best. Last week he finally managed to conjure up a fire spell, and then had promptly set Kunsel on fire. He had mistimed his aim because he had been caught off guard by the general turning up at the entrance of the classroom.

The only thing that he could possibly be confident about was the theory portion of the exam. He was pretty sure he could ace it if they were being marked on a bell curve, because he realized that the large majority of cadets at the program were jocks with brawn in place of an actual brain. Last week one of them actually leaned over to him and asked, ‘Hey, six out of fifteen is more than 50%, right, Strife?’ At Cloud’s stare of contempt, the cadet pumped his hand in the air. ‘Yes!!’ he cheered. ‘Passed the pop quiz. Didn’t think I would.’

Drill Sergeant Vecca made a couple of pointed suggestions to Cloud after he was thoroughly spanked after a sword training session. ‘Hey, Strife? If you don’t want to lose your place in the program, I suggest you spend some extra time brushing up on your training. That, or prepare to suck some dick. There’s only a few people around here that can keep a cadet in the program if their scores are too low, and guess who one of them is?’ Vecca sniggered, saying it with way too much enthusiasm, and Cloud rolled his eyes.

‘I’m not going to get kicked out, sir,’ Cloud said. ‘If I’m gone, where else would everyone in the program get their entertainment?’

Vecca laughed rather heartily. ‘That is true. Not a day has gone by where I haven’t been tickled to death by the fact that you’re _his_ soul mate. Jeez, I guess he’s human after all.’

‘You’re welcome, sir,’ Cloud said wryly. He could tell that despite being the butt of every joke, Vecca liked him. He didn’t mind his sass, for some reason. But it didn’t mean that he let Cloud off on his penalty chores.

That evening he had the unenviable task of picking up all one hundred mats in the training hall and stacking them against the far corner. He had been pummeled into the mattress during close combat training. He had been flipped, grappled at, slammed and basically made to kiss the mat. It had been so bad that he was quite certain there were permanently Cloud-shaped imprints if he dared to look.

He picked up three mats at the time and then walked across the cavernous space to add it to the stack. He stopped counting after twentieth. It was kind of relaxing, and mind-numbing at the same time. All the better, because he didn’t want to think about how much his muscles were aching.

Cloud had just lifted a mat when he realized he had an audience. The man was tall, black-haired, dressed in the uniform of the First Class SOLDIER. Cloud dropped the mats and saluted the man. ‘Sir!’

The man had spiky black hair, and was currently leaning against the doorway watching him. His classically handsome face was turned up in a cheerful smile. ‘Hello!’

It was an unusually friendly greeting from a First Class SOLDIER to a cadet, and for reason, instantly made him feel at ease. The man radiated warmth and friendliness. That, and he had cool spiky hair. Only the cool kids had spiky hair. ‘Can I help you, sir?’

‘Call me Zack. Zack Fair,’ he said, walking forward and shaking Cloud’s hand rather enthusiastically. ‘And you are?’

‘Cadet Cloud Strife. Nice to meet you, sir …?’

‘Need a hand?’ Zack asked, and before Cloud could answer he had already hauled about four mattresses and walked them to the stack. Cloud could not believe it.

‘I don’t need help, sir!’ Cloud said, hurrying to the taller man. The SOLDIER gave him a quick and friendly pat.

‘It’s all right, kid. Come on, let’s finish them together. You take the right and I’ll take the left.’

‘Thank you, sir,’ Cloud said.

‘None of this “sir” business, please. It’s just Zack. “Sir” makes me feel like I’m your grandpa.’ Zack grinned. ‘And I’m too young to be your grandpa, kid.’ They worked in tandem to finish the entire stack of mattresses, all pushed neatly against the wall. When they were finished, Zack clapped his hands together and turned to Cloud. ‘Now that I’ve done you this favor, I was wondering if you could help me with something.’

Cloud couldn’t help the wariness on his face. ‘Yes?’

‘I’ve just got some paperwork to finish. Need them photocopied then distributed for a divisional meeting tomorrow. Sorted, stapled and then delivered. Would you be able to help me?’

Cloud was simultaneously relieved and suspicious at the same time. Why him? Why did Zack specifically need his help? But he couldn’t very well say no. Zack graciously clapped him on the shoulder. ‘No hurry, though, Cloud. Go have a shower and your dinner before you come to the First Class offices.’

During his shower, he reasoned to himself that Zack probably pulled him for low level scut work that he himself was too lazy to do. He was tired, and was more than eager to make love to his bed and pillow. But he guessed that this beat hauling training mats or mopping the training hall. Paperwork? Sounded like a quick and easy job.

He swallowed the unidentifiable mess the kitchen cooks had the temerity to call dinner and then reported to the First Class floor. He checked the directory, and followed the directions to Zack’s office. And on the gold placard outside his office, it read, ‘Captain Zack Fair’. Zack was a captain?

‘Hey, Spiky! Come on in!’ Zack motioned, and Cloud stepped in.

And then he realized that this was why Zack needed help. His office was not large, but it also looked like a tornado had hit it. There were files and papers and documents everywhere. Piles of documents were stacked on the sofa and visitor’s chairs. ‘Er … hello.’ Cloud found it hard to keep his jaw closed. What a god awful mess. How did Zack get any work done in here?

‘Sorry about the mess,’ Zack said, before burying his head behind the desk. ‘I was looking for the file that you were supposed to photocopy, but I can’t find it.’

Cloud cast wide eyes at the mess. ‘Anything I can do to help? Can I … put all the papers together?’

‘Yeah. Just ignore the ones on the file cabinet. Everything else, no probs.’

Cloud crouched, and started pushing the pile together. It didn’t take very long, but as he was almost done with it, Zack shouted, ‘A-hah!’ and brandished a piece of paper in his hand. ‘Found it!’ Zack had such an innocent glee on her face that Cloud instantly warmed to that easy friendliness. He wasn’t like any First Class SOLDIER that he had known. Not that he knew many, of course.

‘Hey, I don’t mean to be rude, and just so you know, I don’t mind doing this, but … I’m getting the vibe that you want something else from me.’

Zack grinned. ‘You’re quick on the ball, kid. Look, I was curious about-’

‘The general’s cadet soul mate?’ Cloud sighed gustily. ‘Yep, that’s me. Want to see my soul mark too?’ Cloud pushed up his sleeve and exposed his wrist.

‘Woah, hold your horses, kid! Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you, all right? I was just curious.’

‘Yeah, you and everyone else in this program,’ Cloud muttered, yanking his sleeve down.

‘But I do need help here, that’s not a lie,’ Zack said, cast a glance over the mess in his office. ‘And you seem like a good kid. You just looked sad, that’s all.’

Cloud’s shoulders sagged. ‘Sorry. Just seem to be a little prickly at the moment. It’s just … there’s a lot going on.’

Zack nodded empathetically. ‘I get it. It throws you for a loop, doesn’t it?’ He pushed up his own wrist to reveal the letters AG in almost the same shade of green on his wrist. Your life is fine and dandy, then it throws you this curveball and suddenly you find out that your soul mate is close by and a complete stranger. Well, not a stranger,’ Zack said hastily. ‘I’m sure Sephiroth’s reputation precedes him. But I promise it will work itself out.’

Yeah, maybe Zack did get it a little. Cloud felt bad for being so snappish. ‘I’m just tired. The SOLDIER cadet program is kicking my ass, and I’m not completely sure if I will be able to retain my place here. Haven’t been doing so hot.’

‘Heeey, don’t be so down on yourself. If you gotta put in the extra effort to pull yourself up to scratch, then do it. There’s a lot of potential in you, kid. You wouldn’t have been accepted into the program otherwise. You just need to establish momentum and you’ll be fine. Here’s the thing, Spiky, I wasn’t always this awesome, you know.’

Cloud laughed. ‘That sounds like a load of horseshit.’

‘It’s true! I’m not lying, I swear! Ask any of the instructors around here. I was pretty much the runt of the litter. Then I dug deep, and I started waking up earlier to fit in an extra hour of training. Why don’t you try that? I’ll come with you, if you want.’

‘You’d do that for me?’

‘Yeah!’ Zack slapped him heartily on his back. ‘Maybe you just need a little help, Spiky! Besides, I got a good feeling about you. Spiky-haired people are like, the coolest people.’

That was a ridiculous reason, but Cloud took it. He had a point. People who had hair that defied gravity were awesome. And it was nice to have friends in high places, and this Zack character was obviously warm and friendly. He helped Zack clean up the mess in his office, then went off to photocopy twenty copies of the meeting agenda. Zack took half, and Cloud took the other, and set off in the direction that Zack pointed.

Cloud patiently went from office to office to deliver the documents, and then he arrived at the corner office, one that was significantly larger than the rest of the ones flanking it. He glanced up at the placard.

Of course it was his office. Of _fucking_ course.

Cloud peered carefully at it. The slatted blinds were down, but there was a dim light from inside. He was trying to see if there was anyone in there, as surreptitiously as possible – which meant that he was awkwardly crouched beneath the windows as his body hugged the wall. There was a brief flicker, either on the glass or behind the glass that made him duck down.

If Sephiroth was in there, he was walking away and making his excuses. The last thing he needed was to be boxed in the man’s office. Who the fuck knew what Sephiroth would try to do?

Maybe kiss him again.

Or gods forbid, try to _talk_. No, thank you.

He tried to shuffle back so he could move away from the window. And that was a mistake because as soon as he backed into an immovable wall of flesh behind him, and sat on the booted foot belonging to the owner of that body, he lost what was left of his precarious balance and rolled onto his side. So he was now sprawled on the ground, like a dog who had just rolled over, Zack’s documents tossed haphazardly onto the shiny floor, having left his hand sometime during his embarrassing tumble. 

And too late now he discovered that his nose has caught the scents of leather and _eau de_ successful man. He doesn’t even want to look up right now, because he knows his face is probably the same shade of tomato.

‘Cadet,’ the buttery, deep voice spoke, but the way he said that single word seemed to drip with sex. ‘How often do you make a habit of acting suspicious outside the First Class offices?’

‘No more than the habit of you sneaking up on people, sir,’ Cloud said, and there was a glint in those green eyes that made Cloud brace himself for his insubordination, but then came the belated realization that it was probably vague humor when Sephiroth didn’t lift his boot and smash it down on his face.

Cloud sighed, and pushed himself to his feet. ‘Captain Fair just wanted me to deliver this to you, sir.’ He gestured vaguely on the ground, and started gathering it together. Thank goodness the page numbers were labeled.

He tried to ignore the way the other man crouched down and began to help him gather up the papers. His ears felt warm and his body was flushing in embarrassment to be caught again in such an awkward and embarrassing situation. When he had finally managed to put them in order, he handed the man a copy.

Sephiroth took the pile of papers, and gave it a quick glance. Then his gaze came back up and settled on Cloud. Cloud met his eyes.

And … of course it was a mistake. His second for the night. When they were standing this close together, their gazes locked on each other, all Cloud could think of was the time they had stood in the locker room, and Sephiroth had kissed him until their brains had leaked out of their ears.

It was dangerous, and it was-

Mind-bendingly hot, the way that Sephiroth’s teeth tugged gently on Cloud’s lower lip, and Cloud licked into that sweet, yielding mouth. He didn’t care about how he was crumpling the papers in his fist as he curled his arms around Sephiroth’s neck, getting up on his toes so he could pull the man closer to him.

And then suddenly the kiss wasn’t so innocent anymore. It set a trail of fire that started from his lips and tingled down his spine, the heat of Sephiroth’s tongue burning into him. And that flame consumed everything in its path, shooting straight down the path of his groin, and distantly he realized that his previously very, very limp dick was now rearing its head out of its home, looking around and screaming, ‘Fire, fire!’. He was sporting a half-chubby now …. From kissing alone?

Cloud let his arms slip away as he pulled back. They were both breathing hard, and Cloud felt light-headed.

This was dangerous. _Very_ dangerous. And it was the primary reason why Cloud was staying away from Sephiroth as much as he had tried to the last week. That, and because he was afraid Sephiroth would try to surface that god-awful demand of his – to _talk_. Talking, for _fuck’s_ sake.

Talking never solved any problems. He had learned from experience that opening his mouth almost inevitably led to big trouble. Like how he had boasted to Tifa that he was going to Midgar to become a SOLDIER. Then he had arrived in the big city and realized that he was just a dumb shit of a kid from the boonies who had no idea what it took to join the SOLDIER program. And Kunsel had opened his fucking big mouth to talk about Cloud’s newly obtained soul mark. If he hadn’t said anything, the general would never have discovered who he was. And Cloud could have continued living his life, daydreaming of a beautiful buxom brunette whose name started with S, no last name.

It was all that, and now a new, burning discovery – he _had_ to stay away from Sephiroth. It was imperative now. He was convinced that repeated exposure would now only lead to a single outcome – which was his inner cock slut fucking the bejesus out of his superior officer. He got a suddenly flash of himself climbing onto Sephiroth, who lay in bed, hands tied together. Cloud impaling his own ass onto that magnificent, genetically-enhanced super dick and riding Sephiroth until he was forced to erupt inside of that tight warmth.

Cloud shuddered at that thought. Think unsexy thoughts, you dumb ass! He chided himself. It didn’t help the erection now currently tenting his pants. He pressed the documents to his stomach, and breathed quietly for a few minutes.

He watched Sephiroth watching him for a couple of seconds, before Cloud finally summoned up the presence of mind to step away. Sephiroth opened his mouth, and said, ‘Cadet, we need to-’

Cloud already knew what he was about to say, so he cut him off. ‘Hit the sheets, right?’ He refused to blush at the double entendre. ‘I mean, for sleep. Alone. Not with each other. I know, just need to get this done and hit the showers, sir. Almost time for lights-out. See you, sir!’

And he ran. He ran like the hounds of hell were after his perverted, slutty ass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have I mentioned before this was going to be a one-shot? Because it sure hell isn't anymore. I am sorry if you got sucked in into my vortex of lies.


	4. Chapter 4

When he woke up at 0400 the next morning, his dick was dry as dust and rubbed raw, which was _clearly_ a fantastic feeling to wake up to. After his close call with the silver-haired demon last night, he had hit the showers and turned the water taps on, freezing and at a full blast. The water had been so cold his balls had retracted into his body, but it worked because his dick instantly surrendered. Satisfied, he washed away the day’s sweat and dirt, and returned to the cadet dormitory. He grunted at his room mates and slid under the sheets, so tired that he was out the moment the back of his head touched the cheap, thin plastic pillow.

He awoke sometime during the night, his dick so hard that it was actually chafing inside of his underwear, having dreamt of a certain superior officer who shall not be named. In his dreams, those lips had been wrapped around his entire length. He groaned into the pillow. Then he proceeded to rub one out rather furiously under the blanket, and the proceeding orgasm was so powerful that he thought there was a pretty good chance his entire body would leap off the bed and fall to the ground. He had fisted himself so tightly that in the morning, his dick still hurt.

He hadn’t wanked off at all since he joined the SOLDIER program. There was something about the intense physical training that wiped his entire libido. Plus all he saw all day was Sargeant Vecca’s ugly face, and all he smelled was the stinky sweat and body odour from his fellow cadets. It was hardly stuff that turned him on.

But yesterday evening, he had been standing too close to the general. And his hair was really that ridiculously silky, and those eyes were dazzling in their strangeness. That faint cologne and the smell of leather was obviously a big turn-on for him, after weeks of inhaling the wonderful scents of dirty socks and gym sweat.

When he had choked that one-eyed monster, he had ordered himself to think of anything, and anyone but that one superior officer with the letters CS etched on his wrist. Not the silver hair, not that lovely subtle scent, not that superior musculature, and certainly not that exposed flesh of his chest behind cross-straps and under that leather coat that titillated the imagination so much that he must as well be wearing nothing. And definitely don’t think about the man wearing nothing, or that ridiculously long sword he held, and speaking of sword, he wondered if the one in the man’s pants was long or curved? Perhaps both?

He ended up orgasming to the thought of that one specific superior officer, hands on his own tiny waist, standing in front of Cloud, with his super mako-enhanced dick standing proud and ready, and an expression of smugness and lust on that sculpted face.

Yeah, safe to say, Cloud was not pleased with himself when he woke up the next morning.

He rolled out of bed and slapped the bejesus out of his alarm. He blearily brushed his teeth and then dragged himself onto the running track and started doing a slow lap. It wasn’t that long before his lungs started burning, and all the muscles in his body whined and bitched at him for the unexpected exercise when he knew there was a full day of PT ahead of him.

He was just about to slow down when Zack caught up to him. ‘Yo, blondie! Good morning!’

‘Morning!’ he huffed, surprised. He didn’t actually think Zack would turn up even though he had said he would last night.

‘Good form, Cloudy. Straighten your back a bit more, that’s a good boy. Keep your breathing even, and settle into a rhythm.’

He straightened his painful back, and tried his best to keep up with Zack. He didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of the man.

‘Good job, Spike. Now, let’s finish the lap and we’ll go hit the weights.’

It was a brutal, brutal training session. But Zack was the best, really. He never raised his voice, and kept it at an even cadence the whole time. But he was supportive and encouraging in a positive, exuberant way, and Cloud found himself responding readily to that. By the end of the session, he was sweating buckets, feeling strained muscles in places he didn’t know could hurt.

Zack swatted him on his back, and he nearly face-planted into the exercise mats. ‘Great job, kid! Tell you what, if you come over my place tonight, you’ll get some pointers on sword training.’

‘Er … are you sure? I won’t be an inconvenience or anything?’

Zack laughed. ‘No way, kid. Tell you what, I like what we have here. I’ll be your mentor. If you come to me whenever you have some free time, I’ll guarantee you’ll pass the exams no problem.’

‘Why are you being so nice?’ Cloud raised a sweaty eyebrow.

‘Let’s just say I’m just paying it forward. My mentors took real good care of me, and I wouldn’t have gotten to First Class without them. So come on over, I’ll have dinner for you. And you can meet some of them.’

Cloud eyed him suspiciously. ‘One of them isn’t Sephiroth, is it?’

Zack laughed and ruffled his damp head. ‘Relax, kid. It’s just casual food and casual friends. You can meet my girlfriend too. She’s such a great cook, you’ll die when you taste her food.’

‘All right,’ Cloud said. It was the weekend, which meant he only had half-day classes. ‘Need any help then? Want me to come over earlier?’

‘Yeah, why not?’ Zack said. ‘Aerith could use some help around the kitchen, I’m sure. See you at four-thirty, then.’

Which was precisely where he found himself hours later, in Zack’s apartment with a cold beer sweating in his hand. Zack’s girlfriend turned out to be a bubbly, sassy little thing in pink and red, who competently ordered him about the kitchen until she discovered that he was practically useless, and had ordered him out to join Zack on the couch.

‘So, banished to the couch because you turned out to be useless in the kitchen,’ Zack tutted at him. ‘So disappointing.’

Cloud chuckled. ‘At least I tried. I don’t see you trying.’

‘I know my place,’ Zack said. ‘And my place is far away so I don’t set anything on fire. Right, babe!’

‘Right!’ Aerith called out jauntily. ‘I will not save you this time if you do it again.’

‘Sorry, babe! I owe you my life, now and forever! You’re awesome!’

The bell rang, and Zack half-bounced, half-rolled off the sofa. ‘Oh, yeah! Here come the reinforcements, babe!’ He shouted so loudly that Cloud’s ears rang for a bit. He got to his feet, braced himself for meeting new people, and took a fortifying gulp from his beer bottle. Then he turned, and saw Angeal coming through the door.

Wait.

Then that familiar glimpse of red hair behind him. The same guy that catcalled him just two days ago, and yelled at him over his sword training session, ‘Betcha Sephiroth has a sword you can play with! Take some private lessons already, you’re terrible!’

Oh fuck. But that could only mean …

Their eyes met.

He spat beer all over himself. And by spitting, he meant that it came frothing out of his nose and mouth, spilling all over his white t-shirt, creating an amber colored stain that had downward drips. He had snorted so hard that he had choked a little on it, then had started coughing, drawing their attention to him and his humiliating blunder.

Genesis positively lit up in sadistic glee. ‘Why, look who it is! Oh, darling, that’s just sad. Sephiroth, instead of worrying so much about his progress, why don’t you start by teaching your little blond twink how to drink from a bottle?’

And behind all of them, of course, was the man himself. The devil from his dreams. The demon from his nightmares. The incubus from his visions. The sexy general himself. But not before he caught the surprise in that sculpted face for two seconds before it winked away. Fuck. Fuuuuuck.

Cloud wiped the sticky liquid off his chin, and looked down at his t-shirt. Zack handed him a tea towel, and slid him an apologetic expression when Cloud glared at him.

‘I _specifically_ asked you if one of your mentors was Sephiroth!’ Cloud hissed at Zack out of the corner of his mouth.

‘I know, I know, you did. But I didn’t _exactly_ say no.’

‘What the fuck, sir! This is not cool!’ Cloud gritted out.

Zack clapped his hands together and plastered a wide smile on his face. ‘Hey, Cloud. Meet Angeal, Genesis, and Sephiroth. We’re all friends here, so it’s all cool and casual, all right? No need for titles.’

‘Oh, we’ve met,’ Genesis grinned so evilly at him Zack had to physically steer him away to the kitchen. Angeal followed quickly, seemingly not wanting to be caught in the middle of the both of them.

So they ended up frozen to the spot, facing each other before Cloud coughed awkwardly and looked away, pressing the tea towel to his shirt. He wondered what was the fastest and politest way to leave, and decided there was no better way than to just open his mouth and saying the first thing that came to mind. ‘Hey, Zack?’ Cloud said, turning to his new, apparently rather traitorous friend. ‘I’m just going to … um … leave. I forgot that I was going out with my friend Kunsel.’

And he put his head down and headed for the doorway, but then realized his mistake. Sephiroth was still standing there.

And it didn’t look like he was going to budge.

Cloud stared at the man’s wide chest. Was it foolish to think that he could physically make the man move?

Yeah, definitely wishful thinking there, dumbass.

‘Cloud,’ Sephiroth said mildly. ‘Good evening.’

‘Evening, sir. Um. If you could move out of the way, I, uh, need to go.’

Behind him, Genesis had a hand on his elbow. ‘Oh no, you don’t. Come sit down on the couch, darling. It’s all right, I won’t bite. Sephiroth won’t either, not if you stick your-’ A hand must have clamped down on his mouth, because the rest of the sentence was muffled. 

Zack appeared at his other elbow. ‘Just stay for a few more minutes. Relax, Cloudy. It’s just an easy night in. Don’t feel so uptight about the whole thing. We’re just friends here, and we’re hanging out.’

Cloud couldn’t really move anymore with two people behind him and one in front of him blocking his way, so he crankily conceded and was then promptly steered to the couch.

He turned his head to see Sephiroth plopping his ass down right next to him.

All right.

Sephiroth was in casual clothes. Sleek black pants topped with a white collared button-down linen shirt that left a wide expanse of a V that showcased pale, rock hard flesh. Those sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, exposing elegantly muscular forearms. Those black pants hugged every curve of his thighs, and could not quite hide the rather sizeable package between his legs.

Cloud swallowed, and deliberately moved his gaze back to the television.

He pushed the bottle to his mouth for lack of anything better to do, and took a few gulps. Then chanced another look.

Only to see Sephiroth staring right at him, focused on the way Cloud’s lips curled around the bottle.

Cloud sputtered as he felt some liquid leak out of the corner of his mouth. For fuck’s sake! What was wrong with him? Gods, it was so embarrassing. He wanted to die.

Sephiroth reached over to tug the tea towel out of his hand and press it to his chin.

Just like holding a bib to a drooling baby. FOR FUCK’S SAKE.

Cloud snatched the towel away and threw it down on the coffee table, and Sephiroth’s hand jerked back in the air.

A beat, then those fingers settled lightly on the very edge of one of his spikes. He didn’t quite tug at it, but Cloud could feel it nonetheless. ‘Beautiful,’ Sephiroth whispered.

Cloud held his breath as their gazes locked onto each other.

He could see the pale silver eyelashes framing those glowing, green cat eyes.

Gods, he just wanted to lean in and kiss the shit out of those lips.

‘Ooh, is it me or is it hot in here!’ Genesis laughed uproariously. ‘Mm. Mmm. _Mmmmm_! Ten out of ten, would totally smash.’

They broke apart as if they had just been electrocuted. Cloud broke eye contact only to scrunch into a ball on the couch, his chest heaving with desire and embarrassment of being caught, having actually managed to forget that there was an audience of four in the kitchen behind them.

Sephiroth growled at Genesis, and Angeal slapped Genesis in in the back of the head. But Cloud wanted to thank him, because if he hadn’t piped up, there was no doubt what the outcome would be – he would climb into the man’s lap and then proceeded to hump the shit out of him. No one needed that as an appetizer before dinner, no thank you.

Sephiroth turned back to him, visibly reined in his composure before speaking again in a low, soft tone. ‘We need to talk.’

And then the magic was broken.

Cloud rolled his eyes so hard that there was a brief moment where he thought his eyeballs were stuck.

‘Did you just roll your eyes at me?’ Sephiroth asked incredulously, after a short beat.

‘Yes, I did,’ Cloud said, then took a swig on his beer. A quick one, definitely making sure that his lips didn’t linger too long on the mouth of the bottle so no one could think it was a come-on. ‘Would you like me to do it again?’

‘What exactly is your objection to having a civilized discussion about the situation with our soul marks?’ Sephiroth eyed the single letter etched on the inside of Cloud’s wrist.

‘What is there to discuss?’ Cloud asked dismissively. ‘I have one, you have one. They happen to be linked. What about it?’

‘That’s exactly what we should be talking about! But you keep running away,’ Sephiroth explained calmly. ‘What exactly are you afraid of?’

Cloud glared at him.

The silence in the apartment was suddenly deafening, and the tension definitely ratcheted up to eleven. Behind them, they heard an awkward clearing of the throat, and then Zack said in a horribly stilted voice, ‘Hey, babe, didn’t you need some soy sauce? Oh dear me, we have none left in the house.’

Aerith’s voice chimed in awkwardly. ‘Oh, yeah, definitely. Need soy sauce in pasta. Shall we go pick it up, babe?’

‘Oh yes, we shall,’ Zack said woodenly.

‘We should come with you as well,’ Angeal added. ‘Need to pick up beer. More beer.’

‘Oh no, I’m staying here to watch this shit show- HEY! Stop grabbing me!’ Genesis yelled, even as Angeal and Zack both dragged him out of the kitchen and towards the apartment exit. ‘No, I want to watch! I _need_ this!’ He howled even as they hauled him into the hallway. ‘They’re so awkward together it’s hilarious! The unresolved sexual tension is killing me. Please, _please_!’

Aerith grabbed her wallet and pointed to the doorway. ‘We won’t be back anytime soon,’ she smiled. ‘Take your time. Take all time in the world.’

‘Aerith!’ Zack poked his head back into the apartment. ‘Let’s go, babe! Soy sauce! Pasta!’

‘Right, right,’ she said. ‘Um. Bye. Good luck! Talk! Make out! Whatever!’

‘Aerith!’ Zack pleaded desperately, his eyes darting to Sephiroth and Cloud and back to Aerith again.

‘All right, I’m coming already, stop yelling,’ Aerith said, slightly disgruntled, before the door closed behind her and they were left in an empty, silent apartment. Cloud waited for the footsteps to trail away and the muffled yelling outside the apartment to disappear before speaking.

‘We are definitely _not_ making out,’ Cloud said, clearly and crisply, so there could be no confusion.

‘Fine with me,’ Sephiroth said in an equally tight voice. ‘I would rather talk.’

Oh no. Oh, _hell no_.

Cloud put the bottle down on the coffee table with a loud, angry clink. ‘I changed my mind.’

Then he pounced on Sephiroth like a feral, hungry animal.


	5. Chapter 5

When he had first arrived in Midgar, he had stayed at this dinky, dank little hostel in Sector 3. It smelled funny all the time and they had a steady rotation of drunks around, but the fees were cheap and Cloud ended up staying there on his pittance of a salary working as a pizza delivery boy while he studied for the SOLDIER entrance exams.

The hostel was pretty much a terrible blip in his experiences after coming from a small but clean and cozy home in Nibelheim, with hot delicious meals made by his mother. When he wasn’t studying or working, he sat in the communal area eating his cheap-ass meal of cup noodles and buttered toast watching the only TV in the whole place, which for some reason was stuck on a single channel – the Midgar Nature Channel. When he asked the proprietors if he could change it, they adamantly said no. He found out why later – when allowed free rein of the remote, the unsavory inhabitants of the hostel would change it to the porn channels.

No one really wanted to sit through a whole documentary about the mating habits of Behemoths in the dusty savannah of Cosmo Canyon (surprising, considering the scum he lived with) so Cloud was almost always on his own when he watched TV.

One documentary stuck with him particularly, many years after he had left the hostel. Narrated by the starchy, charismatic tones of the famed environmentalist and conservationist Daniel Abernathy, he had watched the lovingly shot footage of a Behemoth on the prowl for a meal after forgoing food for two weeks. He patiently, carefully stalked a single Bandersnatch that had been separated from its pack. And then when the time was right, he leapt at it and mauled it with a savage fierceness. The Bandersnatch was dead before it could realize that it was done for. Cloud had been shocked by the Behemoth’s brutality and the primal ferocity. He’d learned then that the Behemoth was an apex predator, and you didn’t fuck around with them. If ever faced with one, you ran. And then made peace with your gods, because there was a very good chance you couldn’t outrun them, and by the time you realized they were after you, you were already caught in their jaw.

And apparently that lesson was surfacing in his mind now. But clearly, far too late. Far, _far_ too late.

He had pretty much leapt at the man, closing the tiny distance between them. He threw his arms around Sephiroth’s neck and yanked him close, curling his legs around the man’s waist, and was not disappointed to find that the solid mass of hard flesh barely budged.

The sizzle that surged through him electrified every cell in his body. His lips plundered Sephiroth’s mouth, his tongue slipping in to taste the man. And Cloud loved every single bit of it. From the way the man’s arm curled around his back, tight and possessive, pressing their chests flush together, to the way the man smelled so good. He wanted to scream about how good the bastard smelled, that clean crisp scent of soap and water, but with the way his mouth was now currently sealed against Sephiroth’s, screaming was out of the question.

Those green eyes burned into his blue ones, and Cloud wanted this more than anything else he wanted in his life. More than making it into the SOLDIER program. More than he wanted to be a First Class SOLDIER.

No, wait.

Hang on.

Cloud pulled back, and blinked.

No, definitely not. He needed to make something of himself. And he wanted to make it to First Class. Well, Third Class at this point, realistically. And he needed to get his head out of his ass and stop thinking with his dick. Getting involved with his superior officer was a big no-no.

Why?

He couldn’t think of why though. He couldn’t think when the man’s hands were thrust into his hair, tugging gently at the strands, pulling him back into their little bubble of electricity and intimacy, drawing him back into their kiss.

And then Cloud pulled out it again. The responses of his body were interfering with his brain processes. He needed to stop, to think this through properly. He put a hand flat against that firm chest. ‘Hang on,’ he said.

Then it was like the reenactment of _The Last Behemoth of the Canyon_ all over again.

Now that Sephiroth had a whiff of his prey, he was on the attack. Cloud had previously thought because of his own aggressiveness, he was the Behemoth. But he was wrong. So laughably wrong.

Sephiroth’s arm around his waist was like a vise-like grip, and he slammed Cloud onto his back against the couch, their mouths still fused together. And then he pressed his entire weight down onto Cloud’s body, effectively pinning him in place. He nudged Cloud’s right thigh away until he could press his very sizeable package against Cloud’s groin, and he swore he could feel the heat emanating from Sephiroth’s core, searing him until Cloud was practically a ball of fire, moaning and whispering for more.

But hang on, he didn’t want more. _Or did he_!?

He did! FUCK!

Cloud moaned into the man’s mouth, and then almost creamed himself when Sephiroth licked a hot trail from his lips downwards, and clamped down on the tender skin on that sensitive juncture between his neck and shoulder.

Cloud was the literally the Bandersnatch in the powerful grip of the Behemoth. He had been caught.

He arched away from the man, which was a literal impossibility since there was no wriggling room between Sephiroth’s bulk and the couch under his back. As if sensing his urge to get away, Sephiroth redoubled his efforts, rolled his hips a little more insistently, and slipped his hands underneath Cloud’s t-shirt.

Those cool hands with its long fingers grazed a gentle path up to his nipples, teasing, stroking . Then his mouth came back up to capture Cloud’s just in time to muffle his shocked gasp as those fingers pinched. And apparently, hard enough to send the rush of blood surging into his dick, which now strained bitchily against the tight, unyielding fabric of his jeans.

If he had any space to do so, he would be flapping his arms like an insane, flailing bird right now in a pathetic bid to perhaps flap out of the way so he could try to get out of the man’s grip before the hot bastard made him come in his underwear like a teenager.

Or maybe just do a weird wiggle-roll until he eased out of that grip and drop onto the ground.

Nope, Sephiroth’s hands were burning imprints against his nipples. He could not move an inch.

The alarms in his head started going off like a building had gone up in fire and then a quake had split the ground beneath it open and a watery flood was steadily rising to drown everyone and everything until they all died a fiery, watery, and imminent death.

And all because Sephiroth’s one hand, very specifically, his sword hand, had slid down to the awkward tent in Cloud’s pants and started rubbing it like he was kneading bread dough. And suddenly those jeans suddenly seemed too tight, and his dick was bursting to be free.

Sephiroth pressed bruising kisses to his neck and his own traitorous hands were on Sephiroth’s nice, white linen shirt, hastily unbuttoning them until the entirety of his torso was exposed.

It was a magnificent sight made only by the gods. That smooth, hairless skin, not a single ounce of fat on him, abs that went for days and dipped low into a triangle that disappeared under the band of his pants. That firm musculature was hugged by every curve in his body. He looked like a god himself, for fuck’s sake. No one could be so perfect.

Cloud’s hands began buttoning up the shirt again.

It took Sephiroth a few seconds before he looked down at Cloud’s fingers. ‘What … are you doing?’

‘Buttoning up your shirt,’ Cloud answered. ‘What does it look like?’

‘Apologies. I meant to ask … why are you doing it?’

Cloud sighed, and pressed his forehead against that still uncovered chest. It felt warm under his touch, and he smelled so good. Clearly, that was a mistake. So he removed his forehead, and tipped his head back against the cushions.

Then he realized little Cloud was still out to play, and it made him cant his hips up and thrust against Sephiroth’s dick – the same monstrous, ridiculous dong that he had imagined from his feverish dreams. The friction felt so, so good.

And it felt even better when Sephiroth’s fingers returned to unzip his jeans, before gingerly pushing down the edge of his underwear down to free his dick.

He almost cried from the sensation of how good it felt. But instead, he thrusted his hips wantonly into the man’s loose, teasing grip. And when that hand tightened around him and stroked him back and forth – with his sword hand, his dominant hand, and that was so fucking hot he was about to lose his mind, and then two seconds later he does lose his mind, because right then and there, he actually comes.

What actually happened was that his body was revving up slowly, and then his brain did a weird spasm and his next, and apparently final thought was that the war hero that he had worshipped for so many years and had seen videos of him in action and was the primary reason why he had enlisted into the SOLDIER program in the first place _was_ _now touching Cloud’s dick_.

And that was the sad, pathetic tale of how he prematurely shot his load into Sephiroth’s hand.

He didn’t know it was possible for the evening to devolve into more embarrassment, but apparently, it had.

Cloud moaned from sheer mortification, his hands shielding his eyes, even as his synapses were still firing, carrying the sweet aftershocks of pleasure around his body.

‘I … I … what the fuck! I’m sorry!’ he yelled. Maybe sobbed it out like a baby. He wasn’t sure.

Sephiroth stared at the thick, sticky ropes of come on his hand, and Cloud was pretty certain that it was, indeed, possible to die of humiliation. Because if he couldn’t, he would have to literally climb to the top of Shinra Tower and throw himself off it.

Then he watched as Sephiroth licked it off his fingers. And an absolutely villainous smirk overcame his expression. The mere lifting of a corner of lips was enough to change that placid, slightly surprised expression into that of an evil mega-villain who sailed across the cosmos to destroy planets or something.

‘That was … interesting,’ Sephiroth said, still licking at his own hand like a cat cleaning its paws.

Hang on. This was hot.

Cloud’s dick twitched in interest.

Down, you pathetic little shit, Cloud thought grumpily at his dick. No need for an encore when the first performance had been so abysmal. But now that he had come, his mind seemed to clear a little bit more. He was just about to slide out of Sephiroth’s suffocating grip when the man bent down and kissed him, thrusting his tongue into Cloud’s mouth, tasting like the thick, salty-bitter taste of his own come.

Cloud groaned. Kinda gross, but kinda hot at the same time.

Sephiroth pulled out to press light kisses to his jaw. ‘You seem very … pent-up, cadet. Would you like me to help you … relive the tension on a regular basis?’

As far as come-ons went, this one was pretty bad. Cloud blinked. But he couldn’t deny that the idea was kind of tempting. But the longer he waited, his brain cells were gradually returning after that fog, and it screamed at him _what are you doing_?

‘I don’t want to be involved with you,’ Cloud said. ‘On a regular basis.’

‘We’ll see about that,’ Sephiroth said dismissively.

Cloud goggled. ‘Excuse ME.’

Sephiroth gestured vaguely towards their respective soul marks, then thrusted experimentally against Cloud’s hips, eliciting a sharp hiss from him. ‘I think we will be involved for the foreseeable future, I’m afraid.’

‘Uh, no, thanks,’ Cloud said, and pushed against Sephiroth’s apparently immovable bulk. ‘Could you get off me please?’

‘No. Why don’t you think we’re going to be seeing each other more often?’

Cloud nudged him off. Sephiroth didn’t even have the manners to pretend to budge a little. This was beyond annoying. He made out with the man to get out of talking, but here he was. Stuck under Sephiroth, who was refusing to move. And he was talking anyway.

He let out a frustrated little noise. ‘Get off me already, won’t you?’ he snapped.

‘Not until you tell me why.’

Cloud’s brain exploded into an angry mush of rage. ‘Then listen up. There’s nothing we can do about these soul marks. They are there, and we can ignore them if we wanted to. Now, unless you want to get married, which I don’t, what is there to talk about!? I’m just trying to survive in the SOLDIER program here, but I doubt I’ll get very far if I end up murdering my superior officer in cold blood.’

‘We don’t have to get married now. I would like to get married in the future, if it is right for us. We can start … by dating.’

Cloud gaped at him. ‘Wait. You want to marry me? No, you want to date _me_? A cadet? Aren’t you afraid of what people will say about you abusing your position? Or how completely inappropriate it is? Or how many sexual harassment seminars they will try to make you attend?’

‘I don’t care about what other people say,’ Sephiroth answered brusquely. ‘I want to date you.’

Cloud laughed. ‘You don’t even know anything about me!’

‘I know that you’re my soul mate,’ Sephiroth said. Then sounded like he was reciting from a list. ‘I know that you hate civilized, logical discussions. And that you run away when you get scared. And I also know that you orgasm at my slightest touch.’

Cloud brought his thigh up quickly to jam it against Sephiroth’s balls in warning. ‘I _don’t_ want to date you. You’re dangerous to my career, and I want to earn my credentials fair and square and not because people think I’m sucking my superior officer’s cock.’

‘You want to suck my cock?’

‘No. _Focus_. Listen.’

‘Does it make it more acceptable to be a First Class before you suck my cock?’

‘Well, not really. But kind of … _I don’t know_ , all right? It beats being a cadet. Our positions are very unequal right now, and I don’t want to date you because the existence of you complicates everything in my life.’

‘Would you be open to dating me if I found a way to ensure that I can never tamper with your training and career?’

‘I don’t think that’s even possible,’ Cloud said. ‘You do realize that you’re like … the big boss, right? Not just my boss. Like, the big, big boss of SOLDIER. The biggest. The one you battle at the end of the final dungeon. The one that kicks your ass and slaps you around with their wings and supernovas the bejesus out of you.’

‘I have no idea what you’re referring to, but yes, I understand the gist,’ Sephiroth said primly.

Clearly someone didn’t play videogames. Totally not Cloud’s kind of guy. He closed his eyes in frustration, and reined his temper in.

‘Look. I think … I could consider it if and when I get somewhere higher. Like, so this situation isn’t so unbalanced.’

Sephiroth’s gaze turned wary and he narrowed his eyes. ‘What rank are we talking about?’

‘First Class.’

Sephiroth sighed. ‘No.’

‘No?’

‘No. I can’t wait that long.’

Cloud didn’t know whether to be insulted or not. ‘Fine. How about Second Class, then?’

‘Third Class.’

‘I could literally get to Third Class by mid-year.’

‘Then why don’t you?’ Sephiroth asked.

Now it was Cloud’s turn to narrow his eyes at him. ‘What, you think I can’t?’

‘How about we make a bet? Get to Third Class by the mid-year exams and you will consent to us starting a relationship.’

This deal made no sense. If he got what he wanted, Sephiroth would get what he wanted as well. ‘I don’t think you know how bets work.’

Sephiroth ignored him. ‘You will do everything possible in order to get to Third Class. Do we have a deal?’

‘Wait, this makes no sense-’

‘Do you hesitate because you don’t think it’s possible or you’re just too afraid you won’t make it?’ Sephiroth purred in that arrogant, buttery, holier-than-thou voice, and something snaps inside of Cloud.

‘DEAL, ASSHOLE, DEAL!’ Cloud yelled. ‘Now get off me.’

Sephiroth smiled that evil villain smile again, and this time, finally rolls off Cloud.


	6. Chapter 6

‘I do not understand. I thought we made a deal. A deal that meant you would stay far, far away from me,’ Cloud said from somewhere right underneath of Sephiroth’s left armpit, which, shockingly for a military man, smelled ridiculously fresh. Also, it also smelled suspiciously like his own deodorant, Ice Glacier from the Tomahawk range, which couldn’t be right, because when Cloud sweated heavily after a long day, he smelled like a rat died in his lymph nodes, and had then been left to decompose for several days.

Sephiroth did not smell like that.

Also, Sephiroth did not know how to hold up his end of the deal, apparently.

‘We did make a deal,’ the man said mildly. ‘A deal that specifies that you will begin dating me when you are promoted to Third Class.’

‘Uh … so what the hell are we doing then?’

Sephiroth thrusted hard against his hips. ‘This is not dating,’ he said brusquely.

Cloud looked down at the both of them, now smashed against each other in the tiny broom closet, making out frantically like teenagers. They are dressed, but their clothes are in various states of disarray. Cloud’s uniform is pushed all the way down to his waist, and his pants are unbuckled. Sephiroth’s belt sash has been untied and unceremoniously dumped to the ground, so Cloud could have clear access to the man’s awe-inspiring, but patently dangerous chest. Sephiroth’s arm is curled tightly around him, and mouthing his neck, planting punishing kisses on his shoulder that will most likely leave bruises, and Cloud has his hand down Sephiroth’s pants, and his own. He has his hand on two dicks, and he quite likes it. He felt Sephiroth’s one hand trail down to his ass, and he thought to himself that he likes that even more.

‘You could’ve fooled me,’ he deadpanned. ‘This _isn’t_ dating?’

‘No. Dating is getting to know each other by going out on dates and doing things together. This is purely … research.’

‘Research …?’ Cloud closed his eyes and arched into Sephiroth’s touch. ‘Like an expedition?’ What the _fuck_ was he even saying?

‘Like a reconnaissance trip,’ Sephiroth’s mouth moves back to Cloud’s, and their tongues are tangled together, and Cloud can’t say much more until his mouth is released from that punishing kiss. What the _fuck_ is Sephiroth even saying? Their brains are smoked from the kissing. ‘I am trying to explore our sexual compatibility. They say that sex is infinitely better between soul mates, but I have yet to see the difference.’

Cloud yanked his head back. ‘What,’ he said, insulted. ‘We haven’t had sex yet, thanks.’

‘Precisely my point. I am looking forward to it, because I believe it will be explosive based on what I’ve seen so far. You’re very …’ Sephiroth trailed off, as if trying to find a word to best describe Cloud and then promptly failed to do so.

Cloud narrowed his eyes, but Sephiroth did not complete that sentence.

‘I think you’re breaching the deal because making out is a part of dating. And we don’t do any of that until I’m Third Class, remember?’

‘And I believe I just explained to you that this isn’t dating. Now shut up, cadet.’

In retaliation Cloud tightened his grip on Sephiroth’s dick and stroked him hard. On second thought, he put his other hand on that monster dick as well.

When he had seen it for the first time about ten minutes ago, his stomach had fallen through. There was no other way to describe it. It was a monster dong, and one day, perhaps far, far in the future, Sephiroth was going to want to stick that up Cloud’s ass. And when that day came, Cloud would probably quit the SOLDIER program, because there was no way he was going to be able to fit that inside of himself and live to tell the tale.

Cloud wasn’t small by any means – but he wasn’t huge either. He was a tidy 5’7”, compact and on the slender side. But Sephiroth was nearly 6’1”, and the first time Cloud pulled it out of those pants, he realized that it explained a lot about the length of Sephiroth’s sword. Cloud had eyed it for a moment, aghast.

Then he had tucked it back into Sephiroth’s pants so he wouldn’t have to look at it. He would touch it, no problems. But looking at it was simply too distracting. If he ever deep-throated that thing, he would be giving himself an intubation, simply put.

He spat in his own hand and briefly lubricated his grip on Sephiroth’s cock, and stroked him while Sephiroth bit his neck, lavishing kisses all over his face, his own hand on Cloud’s dick. Before long, the tiny broom closet was warm with them huffing for breath, and then Sephiroth came in his hands. His own dick followed soon quickly after.

And no, he wasn’t making a point about how he could hold out longer than Sephiroth. Not at all.

Cloud smirked at the man evilly and accepted the handkerchief that Sephiroth silently handed him. He wiped his tacky hands on the luxurious cotton square, then handed it back to the man.

‘Yeah, anyways, I gotta go,’ Cloud said, quickly buttoning up his uniform. ‘Bye.’

Sephiroth looked startled. But then his composed his expression, and put the handkerchief away, before pulling his own clothes back into place. ‘Right. I would like to-’

Cloud slipped out the door and slammed it behind him. Shot furtive looks at the empty hallway, then hurried back to the classroom. He was already late for the materia-wielding session. Shit.

He reported to the classroom, and stopped dead.

Had he missed the class entirely? Had he misread his schedule? Because the classroom was completely empty.

Wait, not empty. Genesis was slouched low in the instructor’s chair, his booted feet propped up on the table. ‘It’s about time that you showed up, you tardy little shit. Get in here already.’

‘I believe I’m in the wrong room, sir,’ Cloud said. ‘I’m supposed to be at my materia class, and I’m already late-’

‘I know you’re late, I literally remarked on it less than ten seconds ago. Now get in here,’ Genesis barked cantankerously.

Cloud hesitantly took a step over the threshold. It felt like the point of no return. ‘Am I … having a class with you, sir?’

Genesis’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. ‘Why do you think I’m here? Do you think I’m here to ride fucking ponies with you?’

Cloud took a seat at the front row, and the sound Genesis made froze him to the spot.

‘This is a private lesson, cadet. Why would you sit over there when I’m right here? Get your ass over here now!’

Cloud tottered over with his bag and books, and stood in front of Genesis. He didn’t want to die, not really, but he was really quite curious. ‘Why am I having a private lesson with you, sir?’ Was it because his hitherto unforeseen latent talent had grabbed Genesis’s attention?

‘Sephiroth asked me to,’ Genesis said dismissively.

Oh. Ohhhh.

Damn.

Wait. What?

‘Why?’ Cloud asked, and this time he can’t even conceal the annoyance in his voice. Genesis, the shit-stirrer that he is, perked up at Cloud’s response.

‘Why do _you_ think?’ Genesis asked. ‘Sephiroth is desperate to get into your pants, so he wants to make sure you get to Third Class as soon as it is feasible for you without him going directly to your CO and ordering him to promote you.’

Fuck. This was exactly why he didn’t want Sephiroth to be involved with him in the first place. He didn’t want preferential treatment. ‘No,’ Cloud said.

Genesis only grinned at him, his eyes sparkling. ‘He knew you would say that, and he told me not to take no for an answer. Now open up your hand.’

Cloud narrowed his eyes at the man. Was he going to slap his palm with a ruler, like he was an errant school boy?

Cloud opened up his hand, and faced it, palm up. Genesis placed a fully mastered, green materia in his hand. ‘Tell you what. If you can demonstrate that you are able to cast a proper Fira, I’ll let you out of this deal.’

‘A Fira? I can’t even do a Fire without setting someone on fire.’

‘So? That is exactly how you conjure it.’

‘You’re not afraid I’ll do it to you?’

‘If you set me on fire, I will stick this materia up your ass and drown you in toilet water before using that very same materia to set you on fire before I drag out your wet, soggy flaming carcass and feed it to my dog,’ Genesis kicked back and stretched, although that gleam in his eyes was all warning, no play.

Cloud licked his lips out of nervousness. Genesis was like some kind of mad, rabid, bipolar dog, and he couldn’t for his life imagine why Sephiroth had sent Genesis to give him private lessons.

And then he found out why precisely twenty-five minutes later.

It was because Genesis could get results.

It was either comply with Genesis’s instructions, or piss himself like a dog, and Cloud happened to choose the former. Under his precise, curt directives, Cloud had actually, _actually_ managed to conjure up a rather wobbly Fira. It was a shockingly impressive feat, considering how shaky his Fire conjuring skills were in the first place. He felt a surge of pride inside of him, and he actually feel like if he put his mind to it, a Firaga might not be out of the question.

And he didn’t even know how Genesis succeeded in the first place. All he knew was that he was sweaty, exhausted, and feeling kind of wrung out. But he had done it. He didn’t know how, but he did it!

Genesis lifted an eyebrow, then very slowly, he swiveled on the chair and faced Cloud. He leaned forward, put his elbows on his knees and watched him appraisingly. ‘Hmmm,’ he said. ‘Good. Your performance today is satisfactory. I will see you again, same time tomorrow. In this classroom.’

Shit. Was he really going to do this again with Genesis? Sephiroth had agreed to let him do this on his own, right? He was breaching the rules, wasn’t he?

Damn. He knew his ‘no talking’ policy would land him in trouble, because they haven’t really clarified what Sephiroth would, or would not do. The bottom line was that when he made Third Class, he and Sephiroth would be both free to get in each other’s pants for realsies. No wait, _what he meant was_ , free to date.

Was that what he wanted, or was that what Sephiroth wanted?

Maybe there was a little part of him that wanted it too.

‘As much as I value your lesson, Genesis, I don’t think we should do it again.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because … I don’t want the other cadets to talk,’ Cloud said. ‘I know it sounds trite, but … it’s important to me that I do this on my own terms.’

‘Why do you care so much about what the other cadets think if they’re so afraid of you anyway?’

Cloud did a double-take. ‘What? What do you mean?’

‘You’re some kind of alpha among all the other cadets, aren’t you?’ Genesis said, and Cloud burst out laughing.

‘That is so far from the truth it’s not even funny,’ Cloud explained. ‘There’re a hundred new cadets for this intake, sir, and I’m literally the bottom ten percent. I’m no alpha. In fact, I’m the opposite of that.’

‘Are you as blind as you are stupid? I’m not talking about your performance, you dumb shit. You might be bottom of the pile, and the only reason why they’re not ragging your ass for it is because they respect you. You’re tough, and you’re kind of feisty. And you’re older than the rest of them.’

‘They’ve been saying shit since they found out that Sephiroth and I share corresponding soul marks,’ Cloud pointed out.

‘Yeah, but not in a mean way, right? They tease you, but they don’t fuck you over for it. I’ve got eyes in my head, Strife. I can see it. Don’t worry too much about the cadets messing with you over extra tutoring. If they were Sephiroth’s soul mate, they would take advantage too. Only dummies like you don’t.’

‘But-’

‘I get that you have your pride, kid. But it isn’t a weakness to take all the help you can get. Now, I got you to conjure a Fira in under half an hour. That’s potential there. I thought it might take you two hours, at least. But you surprised even me. So maybe you haven’t succeeded because you didn’t have the right teachers. Or you simply lacked the right motivation. Or maybe because you didn’t entirely believe in yourself. So let us do it for you, until you find that confidence. You don’t suck that badly.’

Cloud considered this carefully. Was it an unfair advantage if Genesis was volunteering to help him? Clearly, he needed the help. Was it right to stay at the bottom because of dumb pride and a certain silver-haired bastard?

‘You’ll be fine, kid. Stick with me for a while.’ Genesis stretched, and gestured for him to return the materia. ‘See, Sephiroth? I told you he had potential? He just needs the right teacher.’

Cloud scowled, and then turned his head towards the direction that Genesis was looking at.

Sephiroth sat right in the back of the lecture hall, with Zack sitting next to him.

Cloud glared. ‘You dirty traitor scum.’

After a beat, Sephiroth blinked, and then turned to Zack. ‘I believe he’s speaking to you.’

‘I know he is,’ Zack said, bounced to his feet. ‘Hey, Spikey. Wanted to apologize for last night. Want to take this outside?’

‘Don’t even start that, sir,’ Cloud said. ‘You said that Sephiroth wasn’t going to be at your place last night.’

‘I didn’t say he wouldn’t be there. I simply … didn’t say anything.’

‘It’s not cool, sir. You seemed like a nice guy, and then you go and pull shit like that.’

‘OK, OK, I’ll come clean. Sephiroth is one of my mentors. We’re just really excited that he’s found his soul mate, but from what we’ve heard you haven’t been too keen on him. I know it’s jarring to meet your soul mate the first few times, so we figured that some time together would help you … get to know each other.’

‘Frankly, it’s none of your business,’ Cloud said, exasperated.

‘I know,’ Zack said. ‘But our Sephiroth isn’t the most direct, or the most romantic, and we thought some help with his love life wouldn’t go amiss.’

‘Why do you speak as if I am not here?’ Sephiroth asked. Cloud refused to look at him, because he was afraid that he was just going to imagine that man’s humongous dong again.

‘I think you guys need to butt out,’ Cloud said. ‘Sephiroth and I … we have our own arrangement.’

‘Yeah?’ Zack perked up and sat up straighter. ‘We’re talking about one where you guys get to bop when you get to Third Class, right?’

‘Bop?? BOP? Say “fuck” like a grown up, Zackary. Or “bump uglies”. Because we all know all they want to do is get into each other’s pants.’

Cloud could have strangled Genesis on the spot. ‘Anyways, you said that if I could cast a proper Fira you’d stop the private lessons.’

‘Yeah, about that. I lied.’

Cloud pursed his lips. 

Genesis laughed so loudly and outrageously Cloud felt the sudden urge to deck him. ‘Come on, I’m doing it out of the goodness of my own heart. I just want you guys to fuck each other so you can get it out of your systems. When the itch gets under your skin, it makes you feel irritable. Makes it really bad for everyone around you.’

‘Yeah, he would know,’ Zack chortled. ‘When Angeal was away for a mission for three months, Genesis was this close to killing us. We had to chain him up in the basement to get him to stop. Hey, Cloudy, for what it’s worth, I really am sorry. I do like you, and Aerith thinks you’re awesome. I hope you come hang with us more.’

‘With or without Sephiroth there?’

‘I’m still here,’ Sephiroth reminded them. ‘Kindly refrain from speaking about me as if I’m not here.’

‘Without,’ Zack said.

‘We’ll see about that,’ Sephiroth said firmly.

‘All right,’ Cloud said. ‘I like you, Zack. It’s kind of nice having a First Class as a friend.’

‘Hey,’ Genesis protested, outraged.

Sephiroth narrowed his eyes.

‘Come on kid, time to hit the weights with me. We can do a little hand-to-hand combat after it,’ Zack bounced on the balls of his feet.

Cloud stopped dead in his tracks. ‘What? I got a private lesson with you too?’

Zack froze. ‘Ye … ah. Is there a problem? Because Sephi-’

Cloud held out one hand. ‘OK, OK, I got it.’ He pointed to Sephiroth. ‘You and I, we gotta talk about boundaries, man.’

‘So you want to talk now?’ Sephiroth deadpanned.

‘Yes,’ Cloud barked, scowled. ‘Dinner. Tonight.’ Then he sank into a short silence that made it very clear that he was assessing a short list of appropriate places to have dinner with Sephiroth so their discussion wouldn’t devolve into a making-out session or take place in front of other people.

‘My place,’ Sephiroth offered.

‘Hell to the no,’ Cloud said. He chewed on his lip, then clicked his fingers. ‘We’ll do it at Genesis’s place.’

Genesis grunted irritably. ‘Excuse the fuck out of me, but no one issued an invitation to you bitches-’

‘You can watch,’ Cloud said.

‘He _can_?’ Sephiroth said, dumbfounded.

Genesis clapped his hands like he was a fucking seal. ‘OK, dinner at my place, darlings. Salad and steak OK? Yeah, OK. Be at my digs at 8, sharp.’ He scribbled his address on a piece of paper, and handed it to Cloud.

Cloud resolutely tucked it into his pocket, and ducked out of the classroom, with Sephiroth’s green gaze positively boring into him, as if he was attempting to burn a hole into his back.


	7. Chapter 7

Cloud was sitting at Genesis’s kitchen table, and across the other side was Sephiroth, and of all the outfits he could have picked to wear tonight, he was wearing a soft-looking, black long sleeved shirt, one with a deep v in the chest. It was like he knew, Cloud thought darkly. Somehow, he knew that Cloud had a thing for Sephiroth’s intensely muscular and firm chest, and he was purposefully wearing something that would most definitely draw the eyes. Cloud’s disobedient, wandering eyes.

Very rude of the man, considering that they were supposed to have a Serious Conversation tonight.

Cloud gathered his thoughts, intentionally diverting his gaze away from that deep expanse of exposed flesh and to a fixed spot on the pink walls behind Sephiroth’s head. Pink walls. Seriously. Genesis was mad as a hatter. ‘I think we need to define what you meant by not tampering with my career. I want to make it on my own, without your help.’

‘And I haven’t rendered any help. My friends have. Does that still count?’

‘Yes. I’m pretty sure it does,’ Cloud answered.

‘Then you’re expecting to get to Third Class by mid-year on your own strengths?’ Sephiroth asked. ‘The same ones that you’ve been using to firmly stay at the bottom of the cadet rankings so far?’

Ouch. Ouchhhhh.

Cloud jutted his chin. ‘It’s fair, isn’t it?’

‘Do you or do you not want to get to Third Class?’ Sephiroth asked with some exasperation.

Does he want to join the ranks of SOLDIER as a Third Class and bask in the glory of doing what he’s dreamed of since he was a kid? Does he want to get into Sephiroth’s pants and suck that First Class General dick?

‘Maybe,’ Cloud said.

Sephiroth gave him a hard look, one that told Cloud he’s bullshitting no one. ‘Then accept the help from your mentors. Why are you allowing your pride to impede your progress? We’ve all had a helping hand at some point. I’ve had a look at your file. Like Genesis said, you have potential. You’re simply not applying yourself correctly, and this can be rectified by having mentors to target areas of improvement because your spiky head is too stubborn to do things other than your own way.’

So. Rude.

The truth was, he did need the help. With Genesis’s instructions, he had managed to conjure a Fira. Come on, that was Third Class stuff right there. And Zack had managed to correct his footwork that he’s fucked up for weeks now in two lessons. Why does he care what other people will say as long as he knows he’s the one working his butt off, in an extremely non-sexual way? He just wants to be a SOLDIER, more than anything.

‘Fine,’ he said ultra-reluctantly.

‘Then it’s decided,’ Sephiroth said calmly. ‘Zack will take you on hand-to-hand combat and footwork, and Genesis will take your materia classes. Angeal will take sword work and sparring. And I–‘

‘Will stay out, I believe,’ Cloud glared at the man.

Sephiroth glared back at him. ‘I was going to take tactics and strategy, but your file told me that you’re doing fine in the theory department. Therefore, I’ll teach you the most important lesson of all.’

‘And what is that?’ Cloud asked, crossing his arms.

‘How to behave like an appropriate human being around your soul mate,’ Sephiroth finished.

Cloud glared daggers at the man. ‘I think the opposite is true. I can definitely teach _you_ a few lessons on that.’

‘Yes?’ Sephiroth’s eyes flashed. ‘ _Do_ enlighten me.’

Cloud ignored the unspoken threat in those words. ‘For instance, lesson number one, don’t grab your soul mate in the hallway and proceed to talk to him when clearly he doesn’t want to be seen with you.’

‘Lesson number two. Don’t run away when a discussion needs to take place.’

‘Lesson number _three_ ,’ Cloud barked now. ‘Don’t keep inviting him to dinner when clearly he wants nothing to do with that shit.’

‘Lesson four. Do acknowledge that you have a corresponding soul mark, and you can’t avoid the topic forever. If we’re going to date when you get to Third Class, I want an engagement by Second Class and marriage by First Class.’

‘Lesson five-FUCK! What the ever loving _fuck_ did you just say?’ Cloud sputtered.

‘Dating at Third Class. Engagement at Second Class. Marriage at First.’ Sephiroth rattled it off so calmly that it was almost as if he was ignoring the fact that Cloud was having a meltdown right in front of him.

Cloud made a strangled noise. When he could finally speak, his tone was scathing. ‘It’s almost as if you don’t know how human beings function, General Sephiroth. That’s jumping the gun, and you know it.’

Sephiroth shrugged dismissively. ‘We have corresponding soul marks,’ he said, and Cloud could almost hear the unspoken insult of ‘you idiot’. ‘Did you think they were for decoration? This is literally the natural progression of things.’

‘We don’t even know if we get along,’ Cloud said.

And Sephiroth laughed. In that slightly bemused, sadistic, evil villain way. ‘We _certainly_ got along well enough in the broom closet.’

‘Oooh, saucy. Broom closet?’ Genesis tutted from his perch on the living room sofa. ‘Mmm, didn’t know you two were into that. Who was pretending to be the janitor with the massive cock?’

Cloud ignored Genesis.

‘I don’t know,’ Aerith said thoughtfully. ‘Maybe they were roleplaying Commanding Officer and Cadet.’

‘It’s not roleplaying if that’s what they already are, Aerith,’ Zack said in an indulgent voice.

‘Why are we even discussing this?’ Angeal whimpered.

‘Because it’s fun, darling,’ Genesis said, snuggling down against Angeal’s shoulder. The four of them were squashed together while kneeling in a line, staring straight at them, elbows perched on the top of the sofa. Like they were watching a goddamned show.

‘No commentary from the peanut gallery,’ Cloud snapped. He knew he said Genesis could be there, but he didn’t think Genesis would actually extend an invite to the rest of them. ’You know, Genesis, I don’t appreciate the audience. And your pink walls.’

’Hey,’ Genesis retorted. ‘Did you forget you said I could be here? And by the way, you uncultured swine, it’s not pink. It’s _salmon_. And you’re not getting rid of Angeal, I live with the man.’

‘And I’m Angeal’s best friend,’ Zack said.

‘And I’m Zack’s girlfriend,’ Aerith added. ‘Sorry. We’ll be quiet, we promise.’ She flutters her hands at them. ‘Go on. You were saying something about not getting along?’

Cloud turned back to Sephiroth. ‘Right. We don’t get along, pal.’

‘Only because you haven’t given it a chance,’ Sephiroth said. ‘And we get along fine in the way that it counts. And I’m not your pal.’

Cloud rolled his eyes irreverently. ‘It’s not just about sexual chemistry, you know. It’s about compatibility. Having common goals. Taking into account our personalities too. That is, if you had any …’ Cloud said, relishing the way he managed to get a dig into that insufferable, arrogant man.

‘Hey, that’s not cool!’ Genesis scowled. ‘Don’t you be slinging shit at my best friend like that. He has a personality, he doesn’t often show it because he’s just repressed!’

Sephiroth turned to glare at Genesis. ‘That does not help.’ He turned back to Cloud. ‘Do you have any objections with my proposal?’

‘I have _so_ many objections,’ Cloud said.

‘Name them.’

‘What makes you think our relationship will work?’

‘What makes you think it _won’t_?’ Sephiroth asked. 

‘Don’t you think you’re moving too fast?’

‘How so?’

‘You do realize that there’s no guarantee of us making this work, right?’ Cloud said.

‘There is one, and it’s etched on your wrist,’ Sephiroth said. ‘Do you actually understand the concept of how soul marks work?’

‘Are you just going to keep answering my questions with more questions? Do you realize how annoying you’re being?’ Cloud asked flatly.

‘Are you ever going to give this relationship a chance?’

‘Ifrit’s flaming balls, you’re relentless,’ Cloud finally barked, giving up. He’s exhausted just talking to this man.

‘So you agree then? That we will–’

‘Date by Third, Engagement by Second, and Marriage by First. Yes.’ Provided he doesn’t die of frustration and rage by then. Or he hasn’t yet found a way to murder the world’s finest swordsman. It could happen. ‘The only caveat being we can both opt out if this relationship doesn’t work out or sit right.’

The only way he can describe that expression on Sephiroth’s face is _satisfied_ , followed by _pleased_. Like the cat who got the cream, and the canary.

‘One last thing.’

‘ _Are you fucking serious_?’ Cloud shouts, incredulity showing up in every pore of his body.

‘I want you at my apartment every evening.’

‘And may I ask what the fuck for?’ Cloud said this calmly, but he is this close to punching the man’s First Class nuts.

‘Revision. I promised that I won’t interfere, but I will supervise your revision sessions. After all, it benefits me when you to get to Third Class, as much as it does for you.’

‘You want me to do my revision in your apartment. While you watch me.’ Give this man a crumb, and he tries to take a whole cookie.

‘I think he just wants to get in your pants. “Revision”,’ Genesis sniggered. ‘That’s a novel excuse for a making out session.’

‘Genesis!’ Cloud and Sephiroth both yell at the same time.

‘See? You’re getting along great! Same thought process and all,’ Zack piped up. ‘Anyways, I’m hungry. Can we eat yet? You guys have been talking for ages. You’re just beating around the bush. I see those chicken wings calling my name.’

‘I got extra spicy for you, Zack,’ Angeal said.

‘Oh, thanks.’

‘What’s wrong with the salad I made?’ Genesis asked suspiciously.

Cloud shook his head, turning back to Sephiroth. ‘The answer’s no, by the way. No revision with Teacher Sephiroth. I’m going to the washroom.’ He gets up from the table, and that seemed to be the signal for the four of them hiding behind the sofa to come out and help themselves to the food on the kitchen counters. 

‘Oh, those wings look so good,’ Zack moaned. ‘Hey, Gen, pass me one of your beers, will ya?’

‘Which one?’ Genesis opened the fridge door. ‘The Midgar craft beer or the Mideel one?’

‘I want the Wutai beer,’ Zack said, putting out a hand for it.

‘Uh-uh,’ Genesis shook his head. ‘That shit’s expensive as fuck and I won’t waste it on an unsophisticated country hick like you. No. Here’s the craft beer.’

‘Awww,’ Zack said, accepting the plate that Aerith pushed into his hand. ‘Yay, wings!’

Aerith looked around. ‘Hey, where is Cloud?’

‘He said he was going to the washroom,’ Zack said, mouth already full. ‘Ah, this burns! It burns so good!’

‘Then … where’s Sephiroth?’

The four of them all froze in their tracks. In the midst of them attacking the food, the two of them seemed to have slipped away. Genesis shrugged first. ‘Bet they’re already making out in the one of the bedrooms.’ Then he raised his voice. ‘If you get any stains on my bedsheets, I will kill you all and stuff you up Zack’s ass!’

‘Hey!’ Zack said. ‘I’m eating here! Gross.’

A few rooms away, Cloud sat with his knees under him, huddled with his back smashed against the stainless steel washing machine. ‘As if I would do anything on someone else’s bed. I’m not uncultured like that.’

In front of him, Sephiroth had him trapped, silver hair falling like a shroud around the both of them. His hands were at Cloud’s hips, and he was mouthing at the skin at Cloud’s neck. The bulk of his body was trapping Cloud against the machine. It was furtive, and it was hot. ‘Is it any better doing it in the laundry room?’

‘Shut up, and just kiss me already,’ Cloud said, and gripped his arms tighter around Sephiroth’s shoulders. He yanked the man off his neck, and smashed their lips together.

And the kiss they shared was so sweet, and the way their mouths fit together was perfect. Once again, Cloud felt the siren’s call inside of him, of deep longing and completion with the man who held him so tightly.

‘All mine,’ Sephiroth said, and Cloud felt a thrill of belonging.

‘You’re mine too, asshole,’ Cloud said.

Maybe they were soul mates after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all!
> 
> Hopefully the ending wasn't too abrupt for you. I loved writing about C/S and Co., and it's always fun to write them being super irreverent to each other. 
> 
> I'm still debating on writing more or not, but do keep in mind that this was supposed to be a one shot in the first place, except that it mutated into a weird multi-part foray into nothingness. I'm happy for it to end here, because you know for goddamned sure Sephiroth is going to make sure they're married by the time Cloud gets that First Class promotion. Let me know your thoughts. And no matter what, thanks so much for reading!


End file.
